The evolution of multimedia players over the years has been growing to a great extent. This is due to the quality of the videos that we can consume at the moment, as well as the compatibility of current players. A clear example of all this is found with one of the most widespread solutions of this type such as VLC.
This is a program that we use both to play all kinds of videos, and to listen to music through audio files . Over the years it has become a benchmark in this software sector, and there are several reasons that prove it. Based on the fact that it is a free project, VLC also stands out for its enormous reliability when working with all kinds of content. It is also worth noting the enormous number of functions that it offers us, both for novice and more professional users.
At the same time, we must add the fact that this program will not offer practically any problems regarding compatibility with formats. This means that the software is compatible with practically all the video and audio formats that we can find today.
Normal VLC or UWP, which one should I use
In the case that we work with a Windows-based computer, in addition to the conventional version of VLC that we download from its official website , we also have a UWP version .
It is true that this second one is a bit limited in terms of integrated functionalities , but for the reproduction as such it is just as effective. Despite this that we are commenting on, on certain occasions we may ask ourselves which option we are most interested in using. Of which there is no doubt that for the most advanced users in this type of reproduction it is multimedia, the conventional version of the program is the most appropriate. It has many more customizable functions with which we can control this type of work.
However, if we do not want to complicate ourselves and we only want to play audio and video content, the UWP version may be more interesting. In addition, it is capable of creating indexed playlists automatically from our disk drives. But at this point we can also ask ourselves which one consumes less resources such as RAM , we always produce high-quality videos, for example, 4K.
Which version of the player consumes less RAM memory
In the event that you reproduce high-quality content of this type on your computer using VLC, this question may be interesting. What’s more, all this can be made especially evident in the case that we have a somewhat limited computer in terms of specifications. And it may be the case that the consumption of RAM and CPU goes up, negatively affecting the reproduction of the video as such.
Therefore, and having both alternatives for free at hand, at this point perhaps we should opt for the most optimized version for it. Well, for all those who at some point have raised this question, we will tell you that the UWP version of VLC consumes around 20% – 30% less RAM memory when playing high definition content such as four 4K.
This is quite logical, since for example we must bear in mind that we are facing a program much lighter than its normal Win32 version. at the same time being UWP, it is to be expected that it integrates much better with Microsoft‘s operating system, Windows. Therefore, if we want to enjoy this type of content on a device that is somewhat fair in terms of resources, the downloadable version from the official Windows store is the most appropriate.
How the player uses the CPU and GPU
Everything that we have discussed so far refers to the use that VLC makes of the RAM memory of the computer when it plays a 4K video. We have been able to verify that we will save this component if we choose to use the version of the universal Windows platform. The funny thing about this topic is that if we take a look at the fields for CPU and GPU, the opposite happens.
By this we mean that the UWP version of the multimedia content player makes higher use of these two elements than the normal Win32 version. This could make us rethink things when choosing one or another option, all depending on the characteristics or specifications of our computer .
